There comes a point in every journey when the path diverges. We must choose, risking all on that decision.
Chapter 4
Obi-Wan's transport shuddered as it dropped out of hyperspace. For a moment he was disorientated, he had actually allowed himself to sleep on the ten standard hour flight from Coruscant, or Imperial Centre as it was now officially known. The thought of his destination had actually allowed Obi-Wan to relax a little. You can take it easy until tomorrow, he reminded himself, although he actually had no such intentions, tonight he was going to enjoy himself.
Researching Exis Station with Jocasta Nu had turned up some unexpected results. In its' original role the station had been an Ion mining facility, skimming off radiation given off by solar activity. It had travelled between star systems under its' own hyperdrive power, in order to best make use of a galaxy of available resources. It had survived in this capacity for the best part of a millennia, before its' technology had become obsolete. Since then the station had been bought and sold numerous times, fulfilling various roles such as docking port, warehouse, solar shield, even refugee living quarters. The fabric of the actual structure of the place had changed considerably over the eons, so Obi-Wan realised it was almost a waste of time coming here, but needed to be thorough just in case. He seriously doubted there would be any link between the place as it was now and the Jedi Convocation that had occurred there nearly four thousand standard years before.
Unsure as to what Convocations actually were, Obi-Wan had also done some research with Jocasta Nu. Apparently they took place roughly once a decade, or in times of crisis, when all the Jedi spread throughout the galaxy would be called together to discuss important matters. Such an event had not occurred for eleven centuries according to the archive records.
It was definitely necessary to check this place out Obi-Wan reminded himself again as he gazed out the shuttle view port, just to be thorough, he chuckled. Who was he kidding? The facility formally known as Exis Station, to which Obi-Wan was headed, was now part of Stellar Astris – the largest leisure complex and number one tourist destination in the galaxy. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself once more.
________________________
The shuttle banked to starboard, allowing its passengers to appreciate the scene before them. Space was alive with activity, hundreds of vessels, ranging from passenger transports, personal speeders and private shuttles, right up to luxury yachts, all entering and leaving the vicinity. Stellar Astris itself was vast, incorporating a main facility, dozens of smaller nearby ones, even the planet around which it all orbited, a planet that went by the same name. It was an incredible set up and Obi-Wan was genuinely impressed. He had heard about this place, but never visited, Jedi didn't get much vacation time, even so he was aware of all the delights that could be experienced. The planet of Stellar Astris was a holiday resort offering every excursion you could imagine. Relaxing in warm climes by the sea, water sports, mountain trekking, jungle trekking, cold weather activities or picturesque countryside retreats.
The orbiting facilities offered luxury hotels, bars, restaurants, theatres, opera, holovids, sports to take part in, or high level sports to watch, and there was gambling, lots of gambling. Virtually anything you could place a stake on was available here, somewhere.
There were also theme worlds aplenty, one of which, if Obi-Wan remembered correctly, offered tourists the chance to become a Jedi Knight for the day, although it was doubtful the place was still open for business. Shame, Obi-Wan chuckled to himself. That might have been amusing.
The shuttle had now vectored in towards one of the main docking facilities where visitors could disembark before transferring by smaller vessel to their chosen accommodation. Obi- Wan had decided to stay for the evening close to one of the luxury gaming centres. Even as a Jedi Master, he was still a human being, and as such still had vices, two to be precise; a good drink, and a spot of gaming. He had never really had much opportunity to indulge either throughout his adult life, as it was seen as unbecoming behaviour for a Jedi, or because he was stuck on some desert planet in the middle of nowhere. Tonight though, for one night only, he intended to make up for lost time.
________________________
Raynor de Fay took in the scene before him, eyeing the best vantage point from which to he could watch the evening's proceedings. He had arrived several hours previous, electing to stay aboard his vessel, which was small enough for a berth in the main Stellar Astris facility, rather than rent accommodation. Mainly so he could make a quick exit whenever necessary.
Currently he was sitting at one end of a bar in the main luxury gaming centre, trying desperately to drink his beverage slowly. This was the kind of place where you had to pay your way, either at the tables or at the bars, and Raynor was concerned that his constitution, which was certainly not steelcrete by any means, would not last the duration, if he had to monitor his quarry all evening.
He still wasn't sure why the Jedi researcher Ben Jinn had made this place, the hottest tourist spot in the galaxy, his first port of call, but he intended to find out if he could.
Checking his personal data pad again Raynor re-affirmed that Jinn had arrived two standard hours ago, and had checked into accommodation nearby. He had also arranged for gaming credit, which was why Raynor was waiting for him in this place.
Raynor analysed the scene once again. Directly ahead and down a level reached by one of four staircases, was the main gaming area. There were about forty tables, each offering various forms of gambling. Raynor was not a big gambler, but he knew enough to recognise some of the games, Dejarrick and Sabaac in particular. Around the perimeter of the main gaming area were located hundreds of gaming machines, each offering punters big payouts, for low stakes, at huge odds. The bright lights and lively noises easily attracting willing participants.
Around the same level Raynor was currently at where located the refreshment and dining areas, as well as the only access points to the gaming area. A good security measure Raynor observed astutely, as well as making it much easier to identify someone entering or leaving.
It was early evening now, by the facility time, and the gaming area was already beginning to fill up even so Raynor was still able to recognise the man he sought. His face was clearly the same as that on the holostill Raynor had enlarged back at Imp' Cent' Intel', even if his hair was now silver, and his moustache a little shorter. He had also changed from his tan flight suit into something black and slightly less comfortable by the looks of it. Raynor was quite pleased with himself that his old instincts and observation skills had not let him down, despite the fact that Ben Jinn clearly did not want to be recognised. Raynor relaxed a little, he was always most comfortable when on stakeout
________________________
Obi-Wan tugged at his collar with two fingers, trying in vain to loosen the stiff material. It had been so long since he had worn anything formal he had forgotten how uncomfortable it was. To make matters worse Obi-Wan had purchased this outfit on station that very evening, so it wasn't exactly a tailored fit.
Attempting to ignore the mild annoyance Obi-Wan took in the scene, refreshments on this level, gaming in the central lower level. Quickly scanning the gaming area Obi-Wan identified the particular set of tables he was interested in, but that would come soon enough, first things first, he needed a drink.
There were several places from which one could acquire a beverage, some of which should be avoided judging by the garish coloured drinks being served, Obi-Wan thought. As it transpired, the nearest bar seemed the most promising, so Obi-Wan ventured the short distance and took a seat right next to the serving area. "Yes sir?" said the near human tender, Obi-Wan couldn't quite place his species. "How about a decent brandy?" Obi-Wan enquired. "Absolutely sir, we have Coruscanti, Chandrillian, Alderaanian," the tender began his list. "Anything Corellian?" Obi-Wan interrupted. "Ah a connoisseur!" the tender said with an appreciative smile. "We do have one bottle, not quite pre-clone wars, but at least twelve standard years old," he continued knowledgably. "Sounds perfect," Obi-Wan replied. "It is a little on the expensive side," the tender informed Obi-Wan. "I certainly hope so," he said. "Room LG 11882."
Old fashioned tumbler in hand Obi-Wan savoured both the aroma and the smooth warm sensation of his drink. He would need to move quite soon, as the gaming tables were beginning to fill up, and he didn't want to miss out on a place. But first he made some enquiries. "Talk me through the room," Obi-Wan said, signalling the tender again. "What are you playing for exactly?" the tender asked. "Sabaac," Obi-Wan said casually. "Not big creds' mind, but not bantha crumbs either."
"Far end of the room, behind the roped off area," the tender pointed. "That's for high rollers. It's by invitation only usually, since you could damn near win ownership of a planet most nights." He continued, pointing towards two tables near the gaming machines. "Those are minimum stakes, but the rest, in the section with the blue carpet are all reasonable table stakes." He topped up Obi-Wan's drink without asking, not that he minded. "Much appreciated friend," Obi-Wan said, raising his tumbler. "If it were me," the tender added after a moment. "I'd hit table eighteen. The cardsharp dealing machine there sometimes forgets the table limit, if you get my meaning." Obi-Wan grinned. "Have some of the good stuff on me," he said before making his way to the gaming floor.
_________________________
There were two places left at table eighteen as Obi-Wan arrived. He punched his room number into the data pad in front of him, calling up his gaming account. All bets would be digital, no physical chips needed. "Good evening," Obi-Wan said, offering polite nods to the other players, seven in all, eight including himself. Some returned polite acknowledgements, others remained silent, game faces already in place. Tough crowd, Obi-Wan thought.
Evaluating his opposition, Obi-Wan looked around the table. To his immediate left was a male Duros, a common sight in most space stations and space port cantinas, since Duros were renowned space farers. His large eyes and nose less, expressionless face made him practically unreadable. Next to him was a male human, slightly older than Obi-Wan himself, and with an expression that told a thousand stories. He had the confident air of an experienced player, and may as well have had the word smuggler stamped across his forehead. Next came a Sullustan, small in stature, with huge ears. It was rare to find one of this sub-terrainean species off planet, but judging by his expensive attire, this Sullustan appeared well travelled. Probably a mining exec' of some kind, Obi-Wan mused.
To his immediate right, and smiling seductively as Obi-Wan turned to look at her, was a pale coloured Twi'lek. Typical of her species, she was stunning to look at and wearing very little. Trying to pick up a big winner, Obi-Wan chuckled to himself. Next to her was a human woman wearing a very masculine looking suit. Her face was cold and stern, as if she meant real business. Professional, Obi-Wan thought. Alongside her was an over dressed young human male, grinning inanely and fidgeting with nervous excitement. He definitely had money to burn. Sent on vacation by his rich father, Obi-Wan smiled to himself. Finally, directly opposite was a Cerean, and a real concern to Obi-Wan. This species were notoriously intelligent with huge craniums packed with neurons. Another professional out to clean up unsuspecting tourists, Obi-Wan thought.
To make things easier to remember, and for his own amusement, Obi-Wan decided to give all the players a nick name. The Duros would be 'Slim', the old spacer would be 'Pirate', the Sullustan would be 'Ears', the young Human male would be 'Silly Boy', the Human woman, 'Business', the Twi'lek, 'Party Girl', and the Cerean would be 'Brains'.
The card sharp dealing machine came online with a short electronic fanfare about Stellar Astris. "Good evening gentle beings, welcome to gaming quarter. This particular Sabaac table will be complying with Bespin standard rules. The table is now full, good luck to you all," it recited. It had been a while but Obi-Wan was pretty sure Bespin standard rules referred to both the rules of game play and the rules governing betting. If he recalled correctly he must either bet or fold each hand, discarding, redrawing or fixing the value of his cards each time, which could be done by placing them into the interference field. The idea was to get the value of your cards as close to twenty-three or negative twenty-three as possible without going over. If you did you had to pay a penalty. The beauty of this game was that every now and then the card sharp would engage a randomizer that would suddenly change the value of all the cards, except those that had been locked in the interference field, making the game particularly challenging. A smart player would keep winning small hands or folding until there was a chance of a perfect twenty-three, or pure Sabaac, in which case you would win the Sabaac pot, into which all the penalty creds' had been paid. The longer the Sabaac pot was left to build up, the bigger the payout, so it was usually left until the end of the game, were the two remaining players would compete for it.
As the card sharp dealt the first hand Obi-Wan began to assess his opponents, using both his own powers of perception, and by opening himself to the Force. Quite simply, Obi-Wan was going to cheat! In the past an action such as this would have made him question his morality, but not anymore. Not since he had reconciled himself to do everything necessary to safeguard the boy's future. He was going to win this game because he had to. He needed credits, enough credits to buy a ship.
When Obi-Wan left Coruscant his purpose in coming to Stellar Astris was really a stepping stone to his next, and more important destination; Ossus. The planet was so forgotten about that it was not even mentioned on most galactic charts, and there were absolutely no means of travel there, unless you owned your own vessel. Obi-Wan did have his own funds back on Tatooine, and could probably have afforded a small ship, but it would have emptied his accounts. Coming here provided a simple and entertaining means to an end.
Besides, Obi- Wan had thought to himself, he wouldn't really be cheating as he had no way of seeing anyone else's cards. All he would be doing would be gauging the emotions of the other players and judging their hands accordingly, allowing him to decide when to play and when to fold. It still required judgement on his part. His only real advantage would come from the tremor in the Force he would feel as the electronic randomizer prepared to kick in, allowing him to lock the value of a card if needed.
Obi-Wan looked at his cards. Not great, he thought, electing to redraw one of them. This improved matters a little, allowing him to stay in the hand and to test the waters. "I'm in," he announced when it was his turn, thumbing the activation plate set into the table just in front of him, to place his bet. Predictably all the other players were in too, this being the first hand, allowing Obi-Wan a chance to read them if he could.
Brains gave nothing away, Pirate radiated arrogance, Ears was frustrated, and Slim something that felt like guilt and Business was confident. He didn't even need the Force to read Party Girl and Silly Boy, since the Twi'lek was giggling with joy at her good hand, whilst the young man openly cursed his poor one.
After two more bets the hand was over, with Party Girl taking the creds'. Obi-Wan continued like this for two or three hands until he was pretty sure he knew what to look for. Party Girl and Silly boy were obvious and would not last long. Ears was open emotion, either pleased or annoyed. Pirate was either relaxed when he had a good hand or arrogant when he didn't. Business was either confidence exonerated with a good hand or cold, hard calculation with a bad one. Slim was harder to read, but what felt like guilt turned out to mean bad, whereas good felt more like amusement. Brains, however was impossible to read, just total concentration and focus, very little emotion. "And you thought this was going to be easy," Obi-Wan muttered under his breath.
After one standard hour of play Silly Boy got a fluke pure Sabaac, emptying the small Sabaac pot in naïve over enthusiasm, but his luck did not last, and he busted out so many times in a row his game was soon over. Party Girl followed not long after, but hung around the table. Waiting for the winner no doubt, Obi-Wan chuckled. Ears and Slim lasted into the second hour, but the other players were just too good, eventually cleaning both out.
By hour three Business was nearly out and both Pirate and Obi-Wan had roughly equal shares, with Brains well out in front. This was the frustrating part, not being able to read the Cerean. The only thing that was keeping Obi-Wan going was winning creds' off the other two, and not losing the when the randomizer kicked in.
As the next hand was dealt by the card sharp all four players entered the betting. Pirate had that arrogant feeling, which meant a bad hand, so Obi-Wan tempted him with a significant raise. To his surprise Pirate matched the raise, obviously trying to psyche Obi-Wan out with his bluff, but to no avail. Obi-Wan raised again and again until Pirate had to bet his whole cred account just to stay in. Brains and Business had folded, electing to stay out of the suicidal exchange, but Obi-Wan knew better, especially as Pirates' arrogance had turned to downright panic. When cards were shown, Pirate was cleaned out. That left Obi-Wan and Brains roughly equal, with Business clinging on by her fingernails. Within two more hands she was gone too, and by hour five it was Obi-Wan versus Brains, with twenty-thousand creds' in the Sabaac pot.
The next few hands did not go well for Obi-Wan, losing ever increasing amounts, even if he never allowed it to be big creds'. He could carry on like this all night, but eventually Brains would clean him out. No, he needed to end this soon, he had to find a way to read the Cerean, and maybe, just maybe, there was a way. For many years Obi-Wan had been the Jedi Council's first choice in delicate matters of diplomacy. He had often been told this was because of his straight talking manner underlined by unassuming authority, as well as his very dry sense of humour. What Obi-Wan had learned from all this political negotiation was how to find a way into a person's way of thinking, allowing you to find out what pushed their buttons. A simple strategy was often to engage in meaningless small talk until you hit upon something that raised an emotion one way or another, then you could either provoke or avoid upset in the future by choosing particular topics of conversation. If you really needed to you could even unbalance a person's emotions, just by knowing what points to make. It was this strategy Obi-Wan was going to try on the Cerean.
"I don't know about you friend, but I need a drink," Obi-Wan said. "How about a short break?" Brains looked up. "If you insist," he replied, the first words he had actually spoken all evening. Obi-Wan signalled a serving droid nearby. "Corellian brandy," he ordered. "Can I interest you in a glass?" he offered his opponent. "No thank you, I do not allow myself intoxicants," the Cerean said seriously. "That must be tough for someone who clearly spends a lot of time at the tables," Obi-Wan prodded. The Cerean said nothing in reply, and frustratingly just as little through the Force. As Obi-Wan's drink arrived he raised his glass at his opponent. "I must congratulate you on your performance, you're an excellent player," Obi-Wan tried flattery. "Mind you, with all that space in your head, your kind aught to be good at something," he continued, trying an insult as well. Both approaches got no response through the Force, although Brains did exhale impatiently through his nose. "Can we resume the game now?" was all he said. "Sure," Obi-Wan replied, deciding to delay just a little longer. "I knew a Cerean once," he went on, pretending to be a little more intoxicated, just for effect. "He was a good player too, always working things out in that big brain of his, always trying to stay one step ahead of everyone else. You want to know what happened to him?" he asked. "No, but I'm sure you're still going to tell me," Brains replied. At last, there it was, the tiniest flicker of frustration. "He was murdered," Obi-Wan blurted out. "By people he thought were his friends. Ha! Didn't see that coming did he?" he finished. At this the Cerean allowed a little surprise to leak out into the Force in reaction to the story. Obi-Wan now had two emotional cues to look for, and even though they were almost imperceptible, it would be enough.
Over the next several hands Obi-Wan began to take more and more from the Cerean, only occasionally losing a hand or two. Eventually he was well up and safe enough to stay in a hand long enough to try for the Sabaac pot and take the game. "I'm in," he said, placing his bet. "Yes," the Cerean nodded, doing the same. They raised each other stake for stake for several minutes, until Brains was nearly out of creds'. Obviously he had a good hand, or he wouldn't risk being cleaned out, but Obi-Wan couldn't read him right at this moment. Just then a small tremor in the Force tickled the back of Obi-Wan's neck – the randomizer. Without even looking he locked two of his cards totalling a value of twenty in the interference field. The Cerean did nothing, until the warning lights flashed and his face paled as his good hand went horribly wrong. At that instant Obi-Wan knew, the card he had allowed to change had just acquired the value of three, giving him pure Sabaac, and more importantly, the creds' he needed. He certainly was glad he had been thorough in checking out Stellar Astris after all.
________________________
Raynor de Fay eased himself from his seat and gingerly made his way to the railing overlooking the gaming floor. His movements were slow both because the stakeout had lasted several hours, leaving his joints stiff, and because keeping up his bar bill had left his legs a little unsteady. Even so, his mind was still clear enough for him to observe the mild commotion below.
His quarry, Ben Jinn had just won a healthy prize fund at a Sabaac table, and was currently being congratulated warmly by many onlookers, a little too warmly it seemed by a pale coloured Twi'lek female in particular.
Who was this guy? Raynor thought, it made no sense. For no apparent reason he appears on Imperial Centre, goes to great lengths to research for forbidden information, leaves just a quickly, then travels to the hottest tourist spot in the galaxy, again for no apparent reason, except to play Sabaac, which he just so happens to clean up at. This guy was a mystery, one that Raynor needed to clear up quickly.
Ben Jinn had by now managed to disengage himself from all the well wishers, and was making his way from the gaming floor, up a flight of stairs to a bar on Raynor's level. There he purchased a bottle, leaving a smiling bar-tend with a nice tip, before exiting the gaming area. Raynor followed, easily mixing in with the crowds still milling about. Eventually Jinn entered his accommodation, leaving Raynor no option but to return to his ship.
Once onboard he accessed his mainframe, which was constantly linked to the one back at Imp' Cent' Intel'. From there he could hack into the Stella Astris mainframe, just as he had done so on arrival. There were two tasks Raynor intended to complete. The first involved calling up the holovid feed of the corridor outside Ben Jinn's room and setting up an alert inside the cockpit if anyone entered or left that room. The second task was to pull data from Jinn's gaming account, in particular the information that allowed access to it – his thumbprint. Raynor then fed this data back into his mainframe in order to run a cross-check. This would take several hours, Raynor knew, programming the computer to alert him when it found anything. Satisfied, Raynor eased his boots off, slumped back into his form chair, and closed his eyes.
_______________________